Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Ordained Staff of Cozaddale Baptist Temple

We have seen the senior pastors, the missionaries and the evangelist of Cozaddale, this week we are going to look at the pastoral staff who have served  Cozaddale Baptist Temple over the years. In May of 1980, Pastor Ted  Woody traveled to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO to look for someone to fill a need of a growing church in the position of associate pastor. While there he met and interviewed Bro. Roy Keiter. The following January of 1981, Bro. Keiter and his wife Karen moved to Goshen, Ohio and Bro. Keiter became the first full time staff member of the church in addition to that of the pastor. Bro. Keiter's duties as associate pastor were, youth director, overseeing the Junior church, cleaning and maintaining the buildings, he and Bro. Richardson led the choir, Bro. Keiter led the congregational singing and was very instrumental in the building of the present auditorium. Bro. Keiter  had a strong desire to faithfully serve the Lord and he allowed the Lord to use the various  talents He had given him to do so. Bro. Keiter and his wife had two children  (Ryan and Cindy) while at Cozaddale. They faithfully served until the spring of 1990 when they left under the ministry of Bro. Williams.  Bro. and Mrs. Keiter now have four children and he is currently pastor of Gospel Light Baptist Church in Loveland, Ohio where he has served for 22 years. Pictured on the upper right hand corner is  a photo of Bro. Keiter and his wife Karen taken around 1982 or 1983.
The second full time associate was Bro. Rick Sallee. Bro. Sallee began attending  Cozaddale in 1972, when he and his family moved from Cincinnati to the Goshen area. Bro. Sallee was 12 years old when he first came to church. He was saved at the age of 14 under the ministry of Pastor Bill Webb and was very active as a young person around the church. Under the ministry of  Bro. Ted Woody  he went to Baptist Bible College in 1977, where he  met his wife, Lydia.  After college Bro. Sallee served  churches in Texas and Ohio from 1981 till 1987. His hearts desire was always to return and serve the Lord through the ministry of Cozaddale Baptist Temple.  After counseling with  Bro. Woody he returned to Cozaddale in 1987, found a job in a local factory and became busy  in the church ministries. On April 1, 1990, the Cozaddale Baptist Temple under the direction of Pastor Rick Williams extended a call to Bro. Sallee to become  assistant pastor. Bro Sallee accepted. Bro. Sallee and his wife have now been  involved in the ministry of Cozaddale for 22 years . Bro. Sallee and his wife Lydia are pictured on the left. 
          The third full time staff member  was Bro. Jordan Green. Bro. Jordan Green came on staff in August 1996. Bro. Jordan was a graduate of Ambassador Baptist College in Lattimore, NC.  While serving at Cozaddale Baptist Temple, he was involved in many aspects of the ministry.  He worked in the Christian school, had a bus route, and visited the elderly.  The Lord blessed Bro. Jordan's ministry while he was at Cozaddale by allowing him to meet his wife Bethany Gabbard who was a pastor's daughter from Indiana.  Mrs. Beth faithfully served along side her husband while they were at Cozaddale until the Lord called them to serve as missionaries in Mexico in 2004.  Pictured on the left is a picture of Bro. Jordan and his wife Bethany.  
 The fourth full time staff member was Bro. Travis Burke who came in 1997 to organize and be the administrator of Cozaddale Baptist Academy, one of the ministries he faithfully served in until the church called him to be the senior pastor in 2004. More of his ministry can be seen in the section about pastors of Cozaddale.
     Bro. Lee Carr was the fifth person to be called to serve as an associate in the ministry of Cozaddale. Bro.Carr was raised in a Christian home and surrendered to the ministry during his teen years. Bro. Carr went to Fairhaven Baptist College, where he graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Education degree majoring in English.  It was during this time that Bro. Travis Burke was looking for a staff member to fill a spot in Cozaddale Baptist Academy which had now grown under his leadership. Bro. Carr had completed his schooling in December of 1997, and would not be graduating until the next spring. Bro. Carr came to Cozaddale Baptist Academy in January of 1998, to work with Bro. Burke  and returned to Fairhaven in the spring to receive his diploma. Upon Bro. Travis Burke's call to the pastorate of the church in 2004, Bro. Carr became the administrator of Cozaddale Baptist Academy where he continues to serve. Pictured on the right is Bro. Carr with his wife Shanda whom he met while serving at Cozaddale.
As the needs of the school and the church continued to grow Bro. Ben Souza came on full time staff in August of 1999 . Bro. Souza served as a school teacher and was very active as  staff worker.Bro. Sousa served until August of 2001.
 These are the men who have been ordained into the Gospel ministry and have served the Lord at our church. There have been many others who have faithfully served as teachers at the Cozaddale Baptist Academy and we are very grateful for the time they have spent with us.